A pair of Brad Warner free-kicks, against his former side Thurrock no less, means Bowers & Pitsea will venture into uncharted waters on Saturday.
With Warner’s double seeing them through The Buildbase FA Trophy preliminary round 2-1, Bowers & Pitsea will break new ground in this weekend’s fixture at AFC Sudbury as they appear in first round qualifying for the first time.
The Essex club, managed by Rob Small since the summer of 2014, recorded their best performance in the FA Vase by reaching the semi-finals last year and matched their FA Cup best two seasons ago.
AFC Sudbury v Bowers & Pitsea
The Buildbase FA Trophy
First Round Qualifying
3pm, Saturday 29 October 2016
King’s Marsh
By Sam Meade
That means Saturday’s fixture at King’s Marsh will mark a third consecutive campaign of competition history, but Small is under no illusions about just how hard it will be to cause another upset against a team from a division above.
“It is certainly going to be an uphill task,” said Small.
“But we’ve proven over the last couple of seasons that we are capable of causing an upset when we go up against the big fish, so I’ll be hoping for something similar.
“We’ve got a very good group of players but a fairly unknown group of players. Ultimately we are little Bowers competing with bigger clubs.
“We go into these games without pressure and without expectation whereas the teams we come up against, it’s maybe not a particularly glamorous fixture for them.
“They head into the matches with everything to lose and sometimes that can work in our favour.”
Sudbury play on a 3G pitch at King’s Marsh and Small admits that will presents a new challenge for his troops.
Nevertheless, the manager is looking forward to their journey into the unknown.
“You want to win every game,” added Small.
“If we turn up and didn’t show ourselves in the light we’re capable of then I’d be disappointed about that.”
FA Trophy history
Saturday’s away fixtures represent Bowers & Pitsea’s first-ever appearance in first round qualifying.
AFC Sudbury have reached the first round proper on four occasions in the last decade – most recently in the 2014-15 season.
Did you know?
Bowers & Pitsea midfielder Harry Agombar appeared in League One as recently as May 2015.
He played from the start for Swindon Town in their 2-2 draw with Leyton Orient at the County Ground.
One to watch
Brad Warner was the hero in the last round and is Bowers & Pitsea’s top scorer so far this term.
Warner’s efforts have come despite a current run that sees Bowers without a win in their last six league games.
The prize
The winner will be part of the draw for second round qualifying and earn a cheque for £2,700.
